1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the manufacture of trouser closures for fly openings, and more particularly to an apparatus for automatically processing a slide fastener chain to which a succession of fly strips is attached.
2. Prior Art
In the manufacture of trouser closures for fly openings from a continuous slide fastener chain to which a succession of fly strips is attached, it is customary to form element-free gaps in the fastener chain near or at ends of the successive fly strips and also to sever the fastener chain at such element-free portions. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication (Kokai) 56-3003, published on Jan. 13, 1981, discloses an apparatus which includes a vertically movable combined cutter having a cross-shaped cutting edge. The combined cutter, when lowered, breaks off several fastener elements to form an element-free gap in the fastener chain and, at the same time, severs the fastener chain at such element-free portion.
However, in this prior apparatus, the feeding and discharging of the fastener chain is carried out manually, which is laborious and time-consuming. In a hypothetical arrangement having a pair of intermittently operative feed rollers for the fastener chain disposed upstream of the combined cutter to automate the prior apparatus, jamming of the fastener chain would tend to occur at a cutting station where a guide for a pair of interengaged fastener element rows is located. Otherwise, if the feed rollers were disposed downstream of the combined cutter, proper intermittent feeding of the fastener chain at the upstream side of the combined cutter could not be achieved. Also, using a gripping mechanism to feed the fastener chain, which mechanism is relatively complex in structure, makes the apparatus oversized and hence expensive.